Tent-roof



June 13, 1961 F. OTTO 2,988,096

TENT-ROOF Filed March 7, 1958 INVENTOR. Ffif I OTTO HTTORNI UnitedStates Patent 2,988,096 TENT-ROOF 'Frei Otto, Berlin-Zehlendorf,Germany, assignor to L. Stromeyer & Co. G.m.b.H., Konstanz, GermanyFiled Mar. 7, 1958, Ser. No. 719,972 Claims priority, applicationGermany Mar. 12, 1957 2 Claims. (Cl. 135-1) The present inventionrelates to a tent roof construction suitable for tents of all kinds.Tent roofs are already known in which the tent-cloth of the roof isencircled by tension ropes in a wide curvature, whereby the anchoring ofthese tension ropes is made at low positioned fixed points outside ofthe covered surface. In such tent roof constructions the tent roof clothis supported within the covered space by supporting ropes which sagdownward. These supporting ropes are fastened at the edge of the coveredspace to high fixed rope supports, sturdy gable pillars or the like.Such anchorings of the supporting ropes require considerableconstruction and, therefore, are expensive.

The present invention relates to a tent roof with supporting propsarranged in rows within the covered space and with tension ropes curvedover this space, which press the tent roof cloth onto the top of thesesupporting props. The novelty and the progress consists, in this case,in the fact that the tension ropes lying over the tent roof cloth areplaced between the rows of supporting props in such a way that they formvalleys between the hump rows caused by the supporting props so that inthese valleys the rain water is collected and drained off. Thesupporting props are relatively light construction elements; essentiallythey are only under pressure or buckling strain. The known expensiverope supports or the like are thus completely eliminated by theinvention.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a consideration ofthe specification and claims.

FIGURE 1 shows a tent roof seen from above, and

FIGURE 2 shows an enlarged section through a tent construction along atension rope.

According to FIGURE 1 the tent cloth roof 1 covers approximately therectangular ground surface ABC D. The tent cloth roof 1 is carried,according to the invention, by a number of supporting props 2, which arearranged e.g. in five rows of two or three each. In the shown embodimentthe tent cloth roof 1 is held by four tension ropes 3 in such a way thatthey cover the covered space in a wide downward concave curvature. Thusthe tent cloth of the roof 1 is subdivided into a number of partialareas in such a way that between the tension ropes hump-like projectionsappear, which are caused by the upper end of each supporting prop 2. Byropes 4 the ends of the tent cloth of the roof 1 are fastened to tentpegs or the like in the usual manner. The neighbouring rows of carryingprops 2, separated from each other by tension ropes 3, are convenientlyarranged in an otfset manner, as can easily be seen from FIGURE 1.

The length of the carrying props 2 is adjustable. This is done bymanufacturing them from tube parts which can be shifted in the manner ofa telescope. As an example one of these supporting props is shown inFIGURE 1 as an extendable telescope prop (2, 2a). The tops of thecarrying props 2 have approximately the form of a mushroom, whereby anexcessive strain on the tent cloth is avoided. The ropes 3 can betensioned by turnbuckles. In FIGURE 1 such a turnbuckle 7 is shownschematically. Instead of single tension ropes 3 it is also possible touse groups of tension ropes. Ac cording to the invention tension ropesare preferably used, whose elastic elongation is 1.75 times as great asthat of a parallel wire strand under the same load, which consists ofthe same wire material and has the same weight per unit of length. Thetension ropes 3 can be manufactured of helicoidally wound single strandsor wires or they can be very extensible tressed strands or they maycontain particularly elastic cores, so that a high elasticity isreached. In order to avoid damage to the tent cloth roof 1, it isprovided to reinforce the said cloth by very tough and weather-prooftapes 8 in the range where the tension ropes 3 repose, as shownpartially and schematically in FIGURE 1.

As seen in FIGURE 2, the lateral edges of the canvas forming the roof 1are tied down to pegs 6 by special ropes or tension elements 5 adjacentto the ends of the ropes 3 which are also made fast on the pegs 6. Thepurpose of this is to avoid excess strain on the tentcloth. Since thesupporting props 2 and the tension ropes 3 act on different and spacedparts, the tensioning forces act on all areas of the tent-cloth roof andin all directions. Thus relatively great surfaces can be cov ered in aflat manner by tent cloth or the like simply and without any difliculty.The outer appearance of the roof according to the invention, viz. therows of hump-shaped projections caused by the supporting props 2 and thevalleys caused by the tension ropes 3, make it clear that the tent clothis under tension in all of its parts and that each spot of the surfacehas a double curvature. This is advantageous according to the moderntheory for membrane supporting devices. Thus the tentcloth can neverflutter in any place. Waterbags are also avoided by the invention. Thetension ropes 3 can be more or less curved and the supporting props 2can be of different heights. The number of props and their distance fromeach other depend upon the construction problem at hand and upon thematerial to be used for the roof. By the tent roof constructionaccording to the invention very great surfaces can be covered in a veryfiat manner, whereby unnecessary high building elements are completelyavoided. All the roof edges slope towards the ground, so that the newconfiguration of the tent roof is also advantageous in an aerodynamicrespect.

It has been provided to give the roof tent-cloth an increased resistanceat places of particular tension. The webs of material which can beextended and loaded particularly in one special direction are cut outand put together in a special manner. The tension ropes may be tensionedby weight-actuated tensioning devices which are known per se. Theinvention is not limited to rectangular ground surfaces, but can be usedover any surfaces. The anchoring of the tension ropes can also beeffected at already present pillars, walls, dams or the like. A furtherembodiment can be provided by an elastic arrangement of the supportingprops 2 in their longitudinal direction.

What I claim is:

1. A tent comprising a plurality of poles arranged in substantiallyparallel rows, canvas laid over the tops of Patented June 13, 1961said'poles, and rones laidover said canvas between and in planesparallel to said pole rows, the .ends of said ropes being fixedlyconnected to the ground at a lower 4 References'Cited in the file ofthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTS elevation than the top of said polesfor pulling the 858,875 Kflabenshue July 21 canvas down onto the poletops and depressing the can- 5 1,636,594 PY July 19, vas by the ropesbetween the rows of pole tops, the can- 2,114,061 Robmson 12, vas beingexclusively supported by the poles and ten- 21251524 Foree at sioned bysaid ropes.

2. A tent as defined in claim 1 wherein the poles FOREIGN PATENTSforming a row are placed in staggered relation with 10 1,624 Great ai erespect to the poles of a neighboring pole row. 672,815 Great BritainMay 28,

